There have been times when I’ve been lacking in the cash department, or a little lacking in the common sense my mother gave me (not the evening I met up with my little black and white friend though, whoo hoo), but today is neither of those times. Today, I’m lacking scents.
Those of you who take the time to visit me here, know that I enjoy going outside in the early morning to drink my coffee, to listen to the quiet sounds of nature and the far off sounds of the trains, and to be surrounded by the sights and scents of the numerous flowers that I plant every year just for that reason. Well, these mornings when I go outside although the birds are still chirping and calling to one another, and the trains are still blowing their whistles and chugging along on their way to wherever it is they’re going, the air is no longer filled with the smells of jasmine, stocks, freesia, tuberose, stargazer lilies, or autumn clematis. Not even the purple petunias, which I think have the faint aroma of wood smoke (and I like that smell), are still here.
I can still enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass, or even the smell of the damp soil when I water the plants (we need rain again), but those smells don’t hang around very long and that also entails work, which I’m not particularly fond of so early in the day, or even later in the day if you want to know the truth.
So now, while I still have some of the pleasures for the eyes, (the anemones, impatiens gazanias, geraniums, and zinnias are still blooming but not for much longer, I'm afraid), and for the ears, there is nothing for the nose. From the last weeks of September to the beginning weeks of April it is scentless here and when I go outside I think I miss enjoying that sense most of all.
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19 comments:
It could be worse - yesterday our neighbor got some of his steers rounded up in the barnyard to load up, so we were enjoying the scent of eau de bovine. (Although, to be honest, I don't generally mind most barnyard smells - they remind me of being a child on my grandparents' farm. Still not as nice as flowers, though!)
D_G,
LOL
I usually don't mind barnyard smells either, as long as they're not really strong and ongoing day and night. We were driving through the countryside once and started to notice this smell, but couldn't see what was causing it. It kept getting stronger and stronger. Then we started seeing signs in some residents yards saying things like "welcome to stinkville" and some other things not fit to print. A few more miles up the road, we came to a chicken farm. Thousands of chickens!!! peeeeeeeeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Now, that was a smell no one would like!!!!!!!!!!
Chickens are the worse. Just behind chickens is a pickle farm. Never been near one? You don't want to!
Fla Brat
fla brat,
Pickle farm huh. Nope, never heard of or been near one of those.
Evidently, I should be glad of that and so I am.
Do you smell the leaves or wood burning? I kind of like those smells. People here have woodburning stoves and the smell seems to follow the river and mountain tops.
Pickle farm?? Can't even imagine that smell. All I can think of is bread&butter pickles, which I think are a pretty good smell.
Liked this entry--just as much as the others:-)
SisterNan
You need some tea olives! Right now they are blooming and they smell terrific!!
I became ultra "scentsitive" to aromas after I quit smoking five years ago. And now when the season draws to a close and autumn's nippy scent is in the air, I am ever more aware of winter's approach.
There you go Flydragon, quit smoking, then maybe you will be able to still smell something.
Hehehehehehehe
Fla Brat
Nan,
I love the smell of burning leaves (I remember dad burning the piles of leaves every fall), but you're not allowed to burn those here. The guy behind me has a wood stove, and in the winter I do get a whiff of that if the wind's blowing the right way.
You're right about the bread & butter pickles. I remember mom making them and I used to make them quite a bit too. Loved the smell of them in the house. I guess a pickle farm would be different just because of the volume.
Susie,
I want some of those!!!!!!!!!!
TC,
"Scentsitive" lol.
Right now I think there's a bit of a lull between the scents of summer (gone) and the nippy scent of autumn (not yet arrived), and I don't want to aware of any of that winter crap.
Fla Brat,
I'm actually working on that. So far I'm in the "thinking a little more seriously about it" stage.
Surely there is something that would bloom now that also has a great scent. I'll admit to not planting for the nose as much as I do for the eye, so can't really help you. Now lacking cents and sense-I'm very famaliar with. :)
Beckie,
I'm going to have to do some research on smelly stuff that would last this late in the season. I plant for the eye a lot too, but close to back door I try to plant for the nose.
My neighbor is completely lacking in sense. Sometimes it's funny, but sometimes she makes me quite nervous. I usually keep a close eye on what she's up to :)
Well let me see if I can do a little enabling here. What you need is a sweet autumn clematis. They have been blooming here for about a week. On a heavy, humid evening the entire yard is perfumed with their sweet scent.
I took my dad home last Thurs evening and I could smell the SAC the minute I opened the car door. He has a huge one twining up the outside fieldstone chimney and onto the roof.
Go to Tina's 'In The Garden' blog for a photo.
http://tinaramsey.blogspot.com/
Marnie
Hi Marnie,
I do have an Autumn Clematis but mine starts blooming the middle of Aug. and is finished the middle of Sept. so it's done now. But it certainly does fill the entire yard with a great scent. I wonder why mine blooms earlier than your dads.
Hi again, you must be in a warmer zone than we are. We used to be in 4b, now I think we are 5a. Yours gets started earlier and finishes earlier. That's just a guess.
Marnie
There's still the smell of fall out there. I love walking through the fields and woods. It has a certain crisp smell. I quess it might be the thought of winter being right around the corner that keeps us from really enjoying the fall and all it's smells. Middle sis
I miss the smell of the flowers too. The neighbor behind us has honeysuckle growing on his fence. It smells wonderful. There are also some roses that are intertwined with the honeysuckle. I think there is a picture of it toward the beginning of my blog back in June of this year. Bob, the gentleman that lives there, says he loves it when he takes his riding mower back there to cut grass. He sticks his nose in it when he passes close enough to it!
Lisa
Good comment Betty,
You better read all the other posts you missed!!!!
Lisa,
You're right about the honeysuckle. Great scent through the whole yard. There is just one small vine on my back fence that belongs to my neighbor, but at least I get to smell it too.
Here's more enabling: get some Actaea/Cimicifuga simplex. 2 different cultivars of dark-leaved Actaeas have bloomed in my garden & they both smell like Grape Nehi soda. One of them is blooming now & justing walking in the garden this morning I was hit by a strong scent of it. I haven't posted a photo of it in full bloom yet this year, but I think there's one on my last October Bloomday post.
MMD,
I just checked out your last Oct. post. I liked the looks of the plant and if it still smells this time of year, I'm all for it. Have to do some more checking.
Thanks for the idea.
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